Results tagged “mayormike”

When asked about a recent poll revealing that New Yorkers find him "cold and businesslike," Mayor Bloomberg essentially threw up his hands and said (literally), "I am what I am." While declaring that he's not "big on psychoanalysis," Bloomberg stated, "I'm going to call 'em like I see 'em, and I will say I don't get any sense on the street of people being any less friendly than they've always been." Bloomberg apparently spends so much time on the streets that he also didn't seem shocked that New Yorkers didn't find him "warm and friendly." He said, "I don’t find anything warm and fuzzy about the potential of people losing their jobs, or losing their homes. I don’t find anything warm and fuzzy about city government having to reduce expenses and find alternative revenue sources. That’s the job, and that’s what I’m going to do." But as much as might downplay his cuddly "Mayor Mike" side, Politicker NY finds that his latest full page newspaper ads are quick to show him as a regular guy New Yorkers can sit and share a cup of coffee with.

Super Tuesday is supposed to be a decisive catalyst in the presidential campaigns. It may wind up raising more questions than ever, especially with Mayor Bloomberg (not officially) entertaining a run towards 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Mayor Bloomberg traveled to Albany yesterday with a delicately phrased but succinct query: Where is our cash you deadbeats? Bloomberg recently explained all city agencies had to undergo belt-tightening in preparation of a downturn of the city's economy. He wasn't prepared to be short-shrifted by Albany, from where the city depends on a certain level of budgetary support.

Mayor Bloomberg may be finding that coy flirtation can be cute at first, but quickly becomes old and aggravating if carried on for too long. The New York Times has a story today describing a growing backlash against a Mayor who seems preoccupied with something big, but it's something big that he won't discuss, or even acknowledge.

Mayor Bloomberg's trip to the University of Oklahoma to caucus with a bipartisan group of current and former politicians and grouse about Washington gridlock only fueled the fires of speculation that he is preparing a Presidential run. People are already strategizing about who his ideal running mate would be. Bloomberg is sticking to his (anti-)guns, however, and still claiming that he is not a candidate. But his pollster told the LA Times that our Mayor is seriously considering a run and will make a decision in the next two months.

Mayor Bloomberg is bringing his bottom-line approach to governance to the issue of poverty; specifically, where is the poverty line and who is below it? The Mayor is dissatisfied with the current federal standard for judging who is poor and who is not, which is based on the cost of groceries to feed a family. The current federal standard is 42 years old and criticized by many as totally off-base and outdated, especially since it discounts other costs of living, such as rent, utilities, and childcare.

Mayor Bloomberg continued his whirlwind tour through Asia yesterday with a stop in Bali, Indonesia to talk to United Nations officials about the global effects of climate change. This is after a foray to China, that brought to mind Ed Koch's Beijing inspiration for bike paths in NYC to The New York Times' Clyde Haberman. Like NYC, Bali was the victim of a devastating terrorist attack that killed and injured hundreds of people.

The city is showing the door to a daycare facility that has called P.S. 122 its home for 26 years. The Children's Liberation Daycare Center (CLDC), which serves 88 kids between the ages of 2 and 6, is going to court later this month to object to its ejection from the building, with no plan for the daycare center's return. The CLDC shares P.S. 122 with three arts organizations and it's the city's Dept. of...

John Catsimatidis is hoping to follow in Mayor Bloomberg's footsteps by becoming a Democrat who follows the path of least resistance into Gracie Mansion. The owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain has millions of dollars to burn and would like to become the Mayor of New York City. Even for a lifelong Democrat like Catsimatidis, the easiest road to City Hall is to bypass the scrum of party politics and simply get oneself elected as a Republican in a heavily Democratic city. Green apparently beats both red and blue in the media center of the world, and it's possible for enough cash to overcome many obstacles.

Mayor Bloomberg is back from London, just in time to deliver an address at Cooper Union while the world's media is milling about NYC for the U.N.'s General Assembly. Bloomberg will be appearing as part of a panel near Astor Place to discuss national policy matters. According to The New York Sun, an online site is attracting a growing number of supporters to draft Mayor Bloomberg as a third party candidate in the 2008 Presidential election. Bloomberg resigned from the Republican Party in June, ending a five-year affiliation that allowed him to win consecutive elections for mayoral office without slogging through a Democratic primary race.

We've said before that Mayor Bloomberg's girlfriend (or companion, which is what the NY Times refers to her as) Diana Taylor seems like a classy lady, unlike some other mayor's girlfriends. But we don't know much about her, except that she went to Dartmouth (Mayor Bloomberg accompanied her on an alumni weekend there), she worked in senior management at Keyspan, she was the state's superintendent of banking under Pataki, she was shortlisted by President Bush to run the FDIC but then her nomination got nixed, and she was recently named to the Hudson River Park Trust.

While this morning's commute seems better, most mass transit riders are still confused, frustrated and even betrayed by the subway system and other rail service coming to a stand still during the Wednesday morning rush hour. The MTA admitted that the service was not acceptable on many accounts, from the flooding to the fact that the MTA's website was overwhelmed. Then there's also the fact that the MTA was urging people not to take the subways and opt for a bus instead, only for buses to be (A) few and far between and (B) crowded as anything.

Mayor Bloomberg headed to jury duty this morning, with a smile, a number of bodyguards and press aide Stu Loeser. When he showed up to the waiting room for prospective jurors, apparently a woman called a friend and said he was there for the "same foolishness" as everyone else.

It is hot. Although temperature is just over 90 degrees, it feels more like 100 with the humidity. And if you're on certain subway platforms, well, forget a mini-pack of tissues - you'll need a whole stack of paper towels or a big towel to wipe away the sweat while you wait for your train.

Possibly on a Brooklyn-bound F train: Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Mayor's "bullpen-style" offices need some new paint, a new carpet and a few other fixes, so Bloomberg and his staffers are temporarily relocating to work out of the Office of Emergency Management headquarters in Brooklyn on Cadman Plaza East. The Mayor explained, “Somebody’s going to kill themselves with all of the rips in the carpet." Nice to know that he's concerned with personal injury lawsuits against the city from its employees!

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a found grenade(!) at Sedgwick Ave. and Depot Pl. in the Bronx, a child abduction on 8th Ave. and 150th St. in Manhattan, and a person struck by a train on 103rd St. and Roosevelt Ave. in Queens.
• A New Jersey State Police report concluded that the unauthorized use of flashing emergency lights by his driver didn't cause Governor Corzine's near-fatal crash, but it did contribute significantly to the accident by initiating the chain of events.
• Your apartment is only as small as your imagination and creativity, and a retired steamfitter who lives in Peter Cooper Village knows it.
• Parents Against Styrofoam in Schools (P.A.S.S.) are objecting to the approximately four million styrofoam trays used in New York's public schools every week.
• The woman charged with robbing rapper Foxy Brown was released from Rikers Island after her alleged victim failed to appear at the accused's grand jury hearing.
• Brownstoner notes that the DUMBO pedestrian plaza is coming together at a record pace.
• Before new city noise regulations kick in July 1, Stereogum rates the 20 Loudest Albums of All Time.
• Mayor Bloomberg lashed out against special tax breaks that could hand developer Bruce Ratner an extra $300 million for developing Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards. Mayor Mike hopes Gov. Spitzer will quash the "carve-out" benefit.

Given that news that Mayor Bloomberg had heart surgery before he was mayor was slipped into a Newsweek article, the Post suggests Mayor Mike was behind the leak. Strategists say that candidates rather have information out there in the open, versus than it coming out to bite candidate later. Republican strategist Dan Schnur told the Post, "This is the sort of thing Fred Thompson did" (Thompson announced his non-Hodgkin's lymphona - which is in emission - in April).

The Politicker posted this video of Mayor Mike going after both Republican and Democrats during a Crain's Business breakfast. Specifically, when questioned by WNYC's Brian Lehrer, Mayor Bloomberg said, "I don’t think I disagree with what any national party stands for because I don’t think either national party stands for anything." Cue the cheers!

Well, there's nothing like having a barely-one-hour blackout on a sultry weekday to make you consider stocking up on flashlights, batteries, water, and maybe a Go Bag. Con Ed is still investigating the cause of yesterday's brief power failure to parts of the Bronx and Manhattan; Newsday reported "the blackout was caused when breakers opened at an Astoria substation and cut off power to stations servicing Yorkville and parts of the Bronx." It's unclear why the breakers were opened in the first place.

For better or worse, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg's assertion of political independence, we'll be hearing about an all-New Yorker presidential race for months to come. Last week, a Quinnipiac poll found that New York State would go to Democratic front runner Senator Hillary Clinton, over former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Bloomberg. Clinton would get 43% of state votes, Giuliani would get 29% and Bloomberg would get 16%. If Bloomberg's not in the picture, Clinton still wins NY State, 52% to Giuliani's 37%.

But, the NY Times says ahem, reporting Bloomberg aides have working on a possible 2008 bid for the past two years. And the Sun pointed out how he "indulged" questions about national issues at the press conference yesterday. Then again, when asked if there were a situation when he would run, he said, "If everyone in the world was dead and I was the only one alive? Yeah, sure. I mean, come on."

We've had half a day to absorb the news, but it's still kind of crazy that Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided to drop his 6-years-old Republican coat for an unaffiliated one. Here's his official statement:

“I have filed papers with the New York City Board of Elections to change my status as a voter and register as unaffiliated with any political party. Although my plans for the future haven’t changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our City.

Continue reading "Michael Bloomberg, the Ulitmate Party Hopper"

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg traveled back to his Massachusetts roots and gave the commencement speech at Tufts University. Bloomberg, who grew up in Medford, name checked various haunts in the hood, tried to seem with it by mentioning Busta Rhymes, Ali G, and Salma Hayek, and reminded kids to call their mother. He also discussed free speech, in what the Sun called a nod to the Minutemen incident at Columbia:

The fourth lesson is, in the words of Ali G, 'Respect.' Don't worry, I'm not going to start quoting Borat. Respect is so important - especially in times of conflict. You all know what I'm talking about. In December, The Primary Source printed some things that much of this community ardently disagreed with - that many considered quite offensive. But instead of suppressing the publication - and despite the emotion of the moment - you respected their right to express themselves.

Continue reading "Bloomberg on Mom, Sports, and Respeck"

WCBS 2 reporter Andrew Kirtzman takes up rumors of Mayor Bloomberg wanting to run for Governor (which the mayor denies) by way of looking at how everyone wants to talk about him. Given that he's frequently cited in national publications (writing about gun control in Newsweek, named a Time 100 influential), political consultant Norman Adler says, "Mike Bloomberg is kind of the Paris Hilton of politics. People want to report about him and want to conjecture about him." Phew, that's what the Paris Hilton comparison is about -- for a second we were worried he'd start toting around a Chihuahua and expose himself in paparazzi pictures. Besides, only one of them deserves to be famous.

We love scurrilous political gossip! The NY Post's Fred Dicker says that Mayor Bloomberg wants to run for Governor in 2010! For some reason, Mayor Mike thinks that Albany might be his kind of town. A "senior" Republican source spills the beans:

"On two occasions in recent weeks, the mayor brought up the possibility of running for governor, of running against Spitzer in 2010.

Continue reading "2010 Matchup: Bloomberg Vs. Spitzer?"

Mayor Bloomberg's trip to Mexico last week was not only a fact finding mission for the city's proposed conditional cash program - it was also a chance for him to show off his Spanish skills! Mayor Mike (Miguel?) gave a 10 minute speech in Spanish, impressing a Univision reporter who said, "We’ve been covering you for many years now and it’s pretty good," though some others, according to the NY Times, "privately tittered at Mr. Bloomberg's accent."

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg presented PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York, his administration's thinking about what the city needs to do by the year 2030 in order meet sustainability goals. The plan involves 127 initiatives under the areas of Brownfield Remediation, Housing, Open Space, Transportation, Energy, the Water Network, Water Quality, Air Quality and Climate Change, but the big topic was congestion pricing. After much speculation, Mayor Bloomberg even acknowledged that congestion pricing was the "elephant in the room" and explained that the city would ask the state to embark on a 3-year pilot program:

I’ve thought about [the congestion pricing] question a lot. And I understand the hesitation about charging a fee. I was a skeptic myself. But I looked at the facts, and that’s what I’m asking New Yorkers to do. And the fact is in cities like London and Singapore, fees succeeded in reducing congestion and improving air quality. Many people are already paying to drive into Manhattan – there are tolls on most bridges and the four tunnels. But to avoid those tolls, many people drive through neighborhood streets. That not only clogs the streets, it increases air pollution – and asthma rates...

Continue reading "Mayor Bloomberg Says Congestion Pricing And Likes It"

While there's no video of Mayor Bloomberg's Inner Circle Dinner performance online yet (though there's a YouTube clip of someone taping the CW 11's New at Ten - complete with giggling at Mayor Mike), the Daily News' Daily Politics did post this commercial for "Mayor Poppins." Elizabeth Benjamin writes, "My favorite part is Mark Green, playing himself and uttering a line so quintessentially Mark Green it's scary."

Mayor Bloomberg missed the Second Avenue Subway groundbreaking yesterday morning because he was in Cincinnati to unveil the latest part of his campaign fight illegal guns. And, yes, Ohio is a swing state.

Despite its size (and irrelevance in national elections), New York City produces about 1% of all of America's greenhouse gas emissions. That's as much as the entire countries of Ireland and Portugal, however considering that New Yorkers account for about 2-3% of the U.S. population, 1% isn't bad. But it's not great either, and Mayor Bloomberg said, "We can no longer deny the science and bury our heads in the sand. Climate change is a real issue with real consequences. And as a coastal city, New York can't just sit back and hope for the best."